Chaos Theorem

Chapter 4: It Never Ends

How did the acid get in so fast? It wasn't possible, but then how was anything here possible? It all felt like one massive fever dream, but I knew that this wasn't the sort of dream you woke up from when you died. We all had to keep moving before it was too late, because too late was catching up to us faster than I wanted to believe.
  I should have been at the back of the line, but somehow in the mayhem I'd ended up second, with the plague boy being in first, Nate being third, Penny being in fourth and the lynx girl being in last. I just had to pray that those three wouldn't have any problems. If there was a spot to let them overtake, I would let them.
  Knowing that stress was probably clouding our judgement, I made an effort to reintroduce myself to focus their minds in something else, and also in case they didn't hear, "I'm Kat! I don't know if you heard before, but you probably did! I'm gonna stop shouting now!"
  And I closed my mouth as I realised how cringe and painful I was.
  "I'm Penny!" Penny confirmed, yelping as the acid quickly caught up to her, "You probably heard me before too. If I die, tell my mom I love her."
  "No, don't think like that!" I interrupted, making a silent promise I didn't know I could keep, "FASTER, BIRD BOY, FASTER!"
  "I'm going as fast as I can!" the bird boy whimpered timidly.
  The stairs suddenly stopped, and we all ended up in a room that was under construction, but also simultaneously looked abandoned, as the building materials were dusty. The room had the same aesthetic as the side entrance downstairs; grey, boxy and claustrophobic.
  I looked around for an exit, and saw on the other side that there was one, a small one on the exact opposite end of the room that led to more stairs. Thank god! The acid wouldn't care if we had an escape route or not. You know, because it wasn't a loving thing. Kat, focus.
  "Go! There's an exit on the other side!" I yelled, even though everyone probably already knew that, and I was wasting my breath. Again.
  The acid chased us across the room, but it wasn't going fast enough to catch us. I still made sure to slow down a little, so that the others could pass me. The next set of stairs were welcoming, but steeper. That was objectively a good thing unless someone in our group couldn't climb very well.
  "I guess we're all introducing ourselves," Nate panted, "So I'm Nate. Hey."
  An awkward moment of silence passed, as we all climbed the stairs. I looked back and saw the acid rising faster, and kept on running as I'd inserted myself at the back of the group, not saying anything so as to not stress anyone out even more than we already were.
  "I'm Tricky." the lynx girl cried, "I'd like to thank you for saving us, even if it was futile..."
  "No, it won't be futile as long as we keep moving!" I repeated, furrowing my brow as I realised that everyone else had already given up. Well, I wasn't going to let their premonitions come true - there was a way out of this! We just had to keep moving!
  And then my thoughts acted like a slap in the face.
  The stairs ended at another small, boxy room.
  "No!" I yelled, pushing ahead.
  And that was when I saw the air vent. Would we be able to crawl through it? I pried it off with my nails, ignoring the pain in my fingers as everyone watched tiredly, and then hauled myself through in just under half a minute. It was a workout, but it worked! Fate hadn't abandoned us yet!
  "GUYS, COME ON!" I screamed back through.
  Penny appeared next, followed by the bird boy and then Tricky. They all collapsed onto the ground once they got through, their adrenaline leaving them in one fell swoop. I couldn't blame them; this whole thing had been a rollercoaster.
  But it wasn't over yet: Nate was still on the other side.
  My heart pummeled as I tried to peer into the darkness and find him there, but I couldn't see him. A part of me wanted to crawl back through and get him out, but I knew that that would've been a waste of time.
  I needed to trust him.
  I'd have trusted him more if he'd just moved a little bit quicker.
  And then his head popped through, and I felt at ease as I grabbed his arms and yanked him through. He looked annoyed, but I didn't. We were all ok. We were ok...
  Because we were outside now, on the mall's roof. That was where we were supposed to be. That was what the game had wanted us to do.
  It was over... everyone was safe.
  I doubled over as well, and I heard the vent shut behind us, the metallic wall blocking us from the acid.
  And then my phone buzzed again. My heart leapt into my throat, but it was nothing to be worried about.
  The annoying male voice read out, "Congratulations on completing the game. Each of you have been allocated five points."
  I put my phone back in my pocket, and looked up at everyone else.
  Nate. Penny. Tricky. Even bird boy.
  A friendship formed from action... maybe I was naïve to just trust them, but this was something I could work with. These were people I could work with. There was no point in starting arguments with people I had no reason not to like.
  I closed my eyes and let myself breathe. I reminded myself that I was safe, and then opened my eyes to see that the bird boy was gone, and Penny was looking around for him.
  "Will?" she called out, "Will, where are you?"
  But I saw him, the bird boy, Will, over at the edge of the roof. He was opening a package with a little parachute on it, and when he lifted a flap on it I saw that it had his name on it. I leapt up and so did Penny, and we both meandered towards Will as he revealed a phone.
  The phone had a simple black back, with a metallic red diamond on it. There was no writing on it, no way to know that it was his. But it must have been his, because it was in a box with his name on it.
  "Greetings, William Pie, and welcome to Chaos Theorem," the male voice greeted him loudly, making the three of us jump, "You have been allocated ten points."
  Ok, so it was definitely his phone.
  "Oh." Will murmered, and I saw that his hands were shaking. He put them in his pockets before he got up.
  "Where did it come from?" Penny asked inquisitively.
  "I don't know. It was just here when we got up here, I guess." Will shrugged meekly.
  Penny and Will continued to talk about the mysterious phone, but my eyes had been drawn away from there. The edge of the roof beckoned, and I complied, putting one foot in front of the other until I was right at the edge.
  A knot formed in my stomach as I took in the horrific sight.
  "Oh my..." Tricky clasped her hands over her mouth.
  I turned left and right, and saw that the others had all joined me silently.
  I guessed that they all were seeing what I was. Bodies. Blood. The dilapidated states of many of the buildings. But the area was dry, as if the acid had disappeared. If only the wreckage had cleared away along with it...
  Not being able to look at the grave wasteland any longer, I stepped backwards. A cold sweat gathered on my forehead, and I reached out for something to lean on, but there was nothing to hold onto.
  Will also stepped away from the building and doubled over. He seemed reluctant to remove his mask, but he looked as if he was about to throw up at the same time.
  "Kat. Nate." Tricky breathed feebly, getting our attention.
  "Yeah?" I sighed.
  "Do either of you have any idea what's going on here? Us three have only been wandering around without a clue... we never thought anything of how we got here or how strange it was. I don't know, maybe we were just happy to be somewhere happy, but- but I'm scared, and I don't understand what's happening. Please help us." Tricky continued, shaking.
  I looked sadly at Tricky. I guess I wasn't the only person who needed a break from reality. But she wouldn't find it here, nobody would. We were all stuck here, in this nightmare, together. The injustice was painful to witness, but there was nothing we could do.
  "I have a theory, actually." Nate stepped forwards.
  And as he started to explain his ideas about the multiverse to Tricky and Penny, I took a step back to check in on Will. He seemed just as bad, if not worse, than Tricky, and I was able to get that from not even being able to see his face. He slumped there like a whithering plant, and looked as if death was the only escape from this madness.
  "Are you ok? You know, taking deep breaths can get rid of sick feelings." I recommended, putting a hand on his back.
  Will suddenly shot up, "No, I'm not ok! I've been sent from one awful situation to another! This was supposed to be a break from that, but it's not, and it never ends! IT NEVER ENDS!"
  His breathing was ragged and I reached out to take his hand, but it was clear he didn't want it.
  "I need to be alone. Thanks for helping me, I guess." Will shook his head, his voice breaking.
  And then he was gone, walking across to the other side of the roof. He stood there, clenching his fists and breathing deeply and angrily.
  Penny appeared beside me, looking enlightened. It appeared that Nate had piqued her interest with the multiverse talk, but it also appeared that she wanted a break from that. Why else would she be here?
  "Is... is he normally like that?" I asked when Penny didn't speak.
  "I don't know... but I hope he's ok." Penny frowned.
  And Will sat down, and hugged his knees, so that he was hidden. He looked small from the great distance. Young. Exhausted. Sick of everything.
  Who wasn't at this point?

To be continued...